Pre-imprisonment: Current & recent projects

Current Projects

2014-2017, ARC Linkage Project, Positive life pathways for vulnerable adolescents: The role of a life management program approach. Chief Investigators: Dr Sally Nathan, A/Prof Andrew Hayen, Dr Joanne Bryant, Dr Patrick Rawstorne, Prof Eileen Baldry (UNSW), Mark Ferry (Ted Noffs Foundation). The project aims to understand the pathways of vulnerable adolescents and the role of the Ted Noffs Program for Adolescent Life Management (PALM) in assisting young people to get their lives back on track. Young people in contact with the criminal justice system who have problematic use of drugs and alcohol often lack opportunities for social and economic participation in society and many continue offending into adulthood. The project will examine and analyse the short and longer term outcomes and pathways of young people who participate in PALM compared with similar young people who have not completed such a program. The findings aim to directly inform policies and programs, including life management, drug and alcohol and other support programs to better address multiple needs among this vulnerable group.

2016, Academy of the Social Sciences of Australia Workshop grant, Intervention, prevention and punishment: Authenticity and capacity in mandated treatment. Co-Chief Investigators: Dr. Claire Spivakovsky (Criminology), Monash University; Prof Wayne Hall, University of Queensland; Dr. Kate Seear (Law), Monash University; and Dr Adrian Carter (Neuroscience), Monash University. The workshop will bring together academics, practitioners and policymakers in September 2016 to identify and explore the rationales used to support a range of mandated medico-legal interventions such as involuntary detention, compulsory treatment and mandated alcohol rehabilitation. It will identify opportunities for improving the operation of these interventions, and provide recommendations for policy and legal practice that strengthen current policies to support impaired individuals, while protecting the public.